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Birth:          16 Sep 1295 Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England
Death:          4 Nov 1360 
Burial:         St. Mary, Aldgate, London, England

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_de_Clare
Elizabeth de Clare,11th Lady of Clare (16 September 1295 – 4 November 1360) was 
the heiress to the lordships of Clare, Suffolk in England and Usk in Wales. She was 
the youngest of the three daughters of Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford and Joan 
of Acre, and sister of Gilbert de Clare, who later succeeded as the 7th Earl.[5] She is 
often referred to as Elizabeth de Burgh, due to her first marriage to John de Burgh. 
Her two successive husbands were Theobald II de Verdun (of the Butler family) and 
Roger d'Amory.[1][2][3][4]
Marriages[edit]

Elizabeth de Clare married three times and had three children; one by each husband. 
Her father had been one of England's wealthiest and most powerful nobles, and her 
mother was a daughter of King Edward I of England. When Elizabeth's only brother 
Gilbert, 7th Earl of Hertford was killed at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 aged only 
23 and leaving no surviving issue, his property, estimated to be worth £6,000/year, 
was equally divided between his three full sisters, Elizabeth, Eleanor and Margaret. 
This made Elizabeth one of the greatest heiresses in England. Her maternal uncle, 
King Edward II, recalled her to England so he could select a husband for her. She left 
Ireland for good in 1316, leaving behind her young son, William.

First marriage[edit]

She accompanied her brother Gilbert to Ireland for their double wedding to two 
siblings: the son and daughter of the Earl of Ulster. Elizabeth married John de Burgh 
on 30 September 1308. He was the heir to the Earl of Ulster, and Elizabeth could 
expect to be a countess in due course. She gave birth to their only child, a son, in 
1312; he would become William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster. Only a year later, 
her husband John was unexpectedly killed in a minor skirmish. A widow, Elizabeth 
remained in Ireland until another the death of her brother, Gilbert, at the Battle of 
Bannockburn in July 1314 compelled her immediate return to England.[6]

Second marriage[edit]

Edward II placed her in Bristol Castle, but his plans to marry her to one of his 
supporters were dashed in February 1316, when Elizabeth was abducted from Bristol 
by Theobald II de Verdun, the former Justiciar of Ireland. He and Elizabeth had been 
engaged before she was called back to England. She was Lady Verdun for only six 
months when Theobald died on 27 July 1316, at Alton, Staffordshire, from typhoid. He 
left behind three daughters from a prior marriage and Elizabeth, who was pregnant. 
She fled to Amesbury Priory, where she stayed under the protection of her aunt Mary 
de Burgh, who was a nun there, and where Theobald's posthumous daughter, Isabel 
de Verdun (named for the Queen), was born on 21 March 1317.[7]

Third Marriage[edit]

Just a few weeks later after Isabel's birth, Edward II married Elizabeth to Sir Roger 
D'Amory, Lord D'Amory, Baron of Amory in Ireland. D'Amory had been a knight in her 
brother's service who rose to prominence as a favourite of Edward II. Now married to 
him, Elizabeth was caught up in the political upheavals of her uncle's reign. She gave 
birth to another daughter, Elizabeth, in May 1318. Roger was reckless and violent, 
and made a deadly enemy of his brother-in-law, Hugh Despenser the younger. D'Amory 
switched sides, joining the Marcher Lords led by Roger Mortimer and Thomas, Earl of 
Lancaster in the rebellion known as the Despenser War. He died of his wounds at 
Tutbury Castle, Staffordshire on 12 March 1322, having been captured by the royalist 
forces at the Battle of Boroughbridge where the rebels were soundly defeated. 
Elizabeth was captured at Usk Castle and imprisoned at Barking Abbey with her 
children by the victorious faction.

Loss and recovery of property[edit]

Elizabeth's brother-in-law, Hugh Despenser the younger, lord of Glamorgan, became a 
particular favourite of King Edward II. With the support of the king he began to take 
over the adjacent lordships in south Wales, with the aim to consolidate a huge 
landholding by fair means or foul. He concentrated on the lordships held by his 
sisters-in law and their husbands: Margaret and Hugh D'Audley (lordship of Gwynllwg 
or Newport), and Elizabeth and Roger Damory (lordship of Usk). Faced with this 
threat, the Marcher lords of south Wales, led by Damory, rose up against Despenser in 
May 1321 capturing his castles at Caerphilly and Cardiff. Their success contributed to 
the king's banishment of Hugh and his father on 14 August that year. This success 
was only short-lived as the king recalled the Despensers in October 1321 and 
launched a counter-offensive against the Marcher lords and their allies. Elizabeth was 
taken prisoner at Usk Castle in January 1322, and imprisoned in Barking Abbey, 
London, with her husband dying two months later. Elizabeth was forced by the king to 
exchange her lordship of Usk with Despenser's less-valuable lordship of Gower. The 
rebellion of Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer, saw King Edward II and 
Hugh Despenser flee to south Wales in October 1326. By this date Elizabeth seems to 
have been back in residence at Usk Castle, and she regained this lordship after 
Despenser's execution.[8] She held a very elaborate Christmas feast that year in Usk 
Castle, perhaps partly in celebration of her adversary's death, for which the long list of 
food and drink survives (see the National Archives PRO E101/91/14). She also 
undertook building works at Usk and nearby Llangibby Castles,[8] where she would 
entertain her friends, Marie de St Pol, countess of Pembroke, first amongst these. She 
stayed at Usk from October 1348 until April 1350, perhaps to escape the Black 
Death.[9]

Later life[edit]

After Damory's death, Elizabeth de Clare never remarried and styled herself the 'Lady 
of Clare' after her principal estate in Suffolk. She also had a residence at Anglesey 
Priory, Cambridgeshire, Great Bardfield, Essex, and in 1352 she built a London house 
in the precinct of the Franciscan convent of Minoresses, Aldgate. A good idea of her 
lifestyle in the last 25 years of her life can be taken from the extensive survival of her 
household and other records.[10] These threw light on the activities of and provision 
of food and drink for the household (numbering up to 100 people) of one of the richest 
and most influential women of the fourteenth century. Amongst the records are the 
work of her personal goldsmith in 1333, and she also lists her alms giving and the 
patronage towards her favourite religious houses, the priories at Clare, Anglesey, and 
Walsingham, and Denny Abbey. Her most important and long-lasting foundation was 
Clare College, Cambridge.[5][6] This began when she was asked to support University 
Hall, founded by Richard de Badew, in 1336. When Richard handed over his rights as 
patron to Elizabeth in 1346, she made further grants and it became known as Clare 
Hall.[5]

Death[edit]

Elizabeth de Burgh died on 4 November 1360 and was buried at the convent of the 
Minoresses following a funeral costing £200. Her tomb has not survived but must have 
been elaborate. Her will with its extensive bequests is published along with her 
household records.[5] Elizabeth de Clare's eldest daughter, Isabel de Verdun married 
Henry de Ferrers, 2nd Lord Ferrers of Groby, and her younger daughter, Elizabeth 
d'Amory, married John Bardolf, 3rd Lord Bardolf of Wormegay, Knight Banneret (1314–
1363). Her son William, 3rd Earl of Ulster married Maud of Lancaster, by whom he had 
a daughter, Elizabeth de Burgh, 4th Countess of Ulster. Elizabeth became the future 
wife of Edward III's second son Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence. William had 
been murdered in Ireland in 1333, 27 years before her own death on 4 November 
1360.[6]

Parents
DE CLARE Gilbert "the Red Earl" (2 Sep 1243 - 7 Dec 1295)
____ Joan of Acre (Apr 1272 - 23 Apr 1307)

Siblings
DE CLARE Eleanor (Alianor) (3 Oct 1292 - 30 Jun 1337)
DE CLARE Margaret (12 Oct 1293 - 9 Apr 1342)
DE CLARE Elizabeth (16 Sep 1295 - 4 Nov 1360)

Marriage To DE BURGH John (1286 - 18 Jan 1313)
    m. 30 Sep 1308 Waltham Abbey, Essex, England

Notes

Parents
DE BURGH Richard "the Red Earl" (1259 - 29 Jul 1326)
DE BURGH Margaret (ABT 1264 - 1304)

Children by DE BURGH John 1286 - 18 Jan 1313
DE BURGH William Donn (17 Sep 1312 - 6 Jun 1333)

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